While there have been rumors of an EcoBoost-powered Mustang ever since Ford coined the EcoBoost name, the company’s executives have been pretty mum on the subject. But at an event in conjunction with the first press preview day of the 2012 Detroit auto show, the company’s chief product man, Derrick Kuzak, acknowledged the existence of the turbo Mustang.

Said Kuzak, “Given the success we’ve had with EcoBoost across the lineup that we’ve talked about, it’s fair to assume that we will have an EcoBoost Mustang in the very near future.”

And that is all Kuzak is saying about that. Our guess is that the engine in question would be a four-cylinder version, similar to the 2.0-liter unit that will power the upcoming 247-hp Focus ST. If so, it would leave room for the current 305-hp, 3.7-liter V-6 to slot between the new turbocharged, direct-injected four and the 412-hp 5.0-liter V-8 (which will be upgraded to 420 hp for 2013). Earlier rumors indicated that the EcoBoost motor would be a larger displacement four-cylinder making more on the order of 300 hp. We’re reading Kuzak’s words to mean that the new engine option would appear within the next year or two.